Mosley's flurry tips title his way

Jorge L. Ortiz, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published
4:00 am PDT, Sunday, September 14, 2003

2003-09-14 04:00:00 PDT Las Vegas {ndash} -- Oscar De La Hoya was seeking sweet revenge against a fighter known as "Sugar." Instead he tasted such a bitter defeat, he might follow through with his vow to retire.

Sugar Shane Mosley rallied in the late rounds, much as he had in their first matchup three years ago, and scored a unanimous decision Saturday night to take De La Hoya's super welterweight championship in perhaps the year's most compelling fight.

It stands a very good chance of being the most controversial one, as opinions among observers were wildly mixed on who the victor should have been. De La Hoya was so convinced the wrong man got his hand raised, he said he'll challenge the ruling and launch an investigation.

"I was a little surprised because we're in Vegas," said Mosley, aware of De La Hoya's clout in the gambling capital. "It was a very close fight. De La Hoya did an excellent job of boxing. He gave me a little trouble with his movement. But I felt a lot stronger than De La Hoya. My punching power was overwhelmingly stronger."

Mosley's $5 million purse ($4.5 million plus a $500,000 bonus for winning) was less than a third of De La Hoya's $17 million guarantee. But he dictated the pace from midway on, stalking his opponent and backing him up while landing the more powerful, telling blows.

The CompuBox numbers favored De La Hoya, who landed considerably more punches -- 221-127 -- though they seemed to carry less oomph than his rival's.

"Obviously I thought I won the fight," said De La Hoya (36-3, 29 KOs). "I didn't even think it was close. I won by a lot of points, at least by three.

It wasn't even as close as the (Felix) Trinidad fight."

Fighting like a challenger who had fallen behind, as was indeed the case, Mosley (39-2, 35 KOs) dominated the ninth round to begin a closing flurry that had him winning the final four rounds on the three judges' cards. He pounded De La Hoya with two big lefts in the 11th, then landed powerful rights and lefts in the final round.

Seeking to avenge what he considered his only legitimate defeat, De La Hoya started off strong, doubling and tripling up on his jab and following with overhand rights that seemed to surprise Mosley. But he couldn't sustain the pace, as Mosley's body blows slowed him down.

De La Hoya sustained a cut next to his right eye from an accidental head butt in the fourth, and the gash bled on and off the rest of the way but was mostly contained. What was hardly contained was De La Hoya's outrage over the decision.

"On Monday I will put a full investigation into what happened tonight," De La Hoya said. "I just feel in my heart that that decision should have gone to me. I am very fortunate I have the financial resources to put the best lawyers on this to get to the bottom of this."

De La Hoya added that the investigation has nothing to do with the prospect of retiring, and said he would take some time off to ponder that option.

The card's promoter, Bob Arum, was a lot more emphatic, grabbing an open microphone before the postfight news conference and saying: "I'm out of this. I think this was such a freaking outrage that I'm never, ever going to be part of this again."

Too bad for Mosley. He could use a few more big paydays.

The megamillion-dollar bouts that have become a staple of De La Hoya's career eluded Mosley despite claiming their first bout, a thrilling split decision in June 2000. He did get general acclaim as one of the world's top pound-for-pound fighters, but that disappeared after back-to-back losses to Vernon Forrest last year.

Now, despite a relatively low profile, Mosley should reclaim that status after beating the preeminent boxer of his generation twice. And given this bout's disputed outcome - not to mention the financial windfall the fight was expected to generate - he might get a third crack at the Golden Boy.

"Oscar's a Hall of Fame fighter," said Mosley, who didn't sound completely convinced he deserved the decision. "I'm just the one person he can't get by."

Briefly: In the undercard, undefeated Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico earned the top ranking among WBA super lightweights when he dispatched Panamanian Demetrio Ceballos with a seventh-round TKO.

In the other televised bout, a lightweight eliminator, Sacramento's Juan Lazcano scored an 11th-round TKO when Stevie Johnston's corner threw in the towel.